Epes Sargent
Epes Sargent (September 27, 1813 - December 30, 1880) was an American poet, editor, and playwright. Life Youth Sargent was the son of Hannah Dane (Coffin) (1787–1819) and Epes Sargent (1784–1853), and was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on September 27, 1813, where his father was a ship master. In 1818 the family moved to Roxbury, Massachusetts. From 1823 to 1829 he attended the Boston Latin School, but his education was put on hold while he traveled for 6 months to Saint Petersburg, Russia with his father. Upon his return he helped start the school's 1st literary journal, where he wrote about his travels to Russia. He then attended Harvard University where he contributed to the Harvard Collegian, a college literary journal which was started by his older brother, John Osborn Sargent (1811–1891) ( who became a successful politician and journalist). Career By 1831 he was working as an editor for the Boston Daily Advertiser. He then went to work editing the Boston Daily Atlas where he also served as its Washington D.C. correspondent. While reporting political affairs he became friends with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. During this time he also collaborated with Samuel Goodrich, writing the Peter Parley books, which embellished the biographies of our founding fathers with "fancy and legend". In 1836, Sargent wrote a 5-act play, The Bride of Genoa, for the American actress, Josephine Clifton. It was successfully produced by the Tremont Theatre. It went on to the Park Theater and featured Charlotte Cushman. In 1837, he wrote the tragedy Velasco for British actress Ellen Tree. It was produced in several theaters in the United States and had moderate success in London. Velasco was critically admired by playwright Thomas Talfourd and Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote "compared with American tragedies generally, is a good tragedy — indeed, an excellent one, but, positively considered, its merits are very inconsiderable". Around this time, Sargent wrote the words to the song, "A Life on the Ocean Wave". In 1839, Sargent moved to New York where he was associated with a succession of newspapers and magazines. He was first hired by George Pope Morris to edit the New York Mirror. Eventually he left the Mirror and went to work for Park Benjamin, Sr. as editor of the The New World. He published a biography on Henry Clay in 1842 and in 1843 started his own, short-lived, literary magazine, Sargent's New Monthly Magazine. In 1844 his collection The Light of the Lighthouse and Other Poems was published and then in 1845, he published his first novel, Fleetwood, or the Stain of Birth, a novel about American life. In 1846 he wrote and edited The Modern Standard Drama, a seven volume collection of the most popular acting plays of the time. Sargent was considered a member of the "Knickerbocker group", a group which also included Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, James Kirke Paulding, Gulian Verplanck, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Lydia M. Child, and Nathaniel Parker Willis.Nelson, Randy F. The Almanac of American Letters. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 30. ISBN 086576008X Later years Sargent was a well-respected literary figure by the time he returned to Boston in 1847, when he became editor to The Boston Evening Transcript. It was noted that under his care the newspaper "showed an increasing tenderness toward the Abolitionists". In 1848 he married Elizabeth Weld (1820–1902); the couple had no children. He developed a series of school books, The Standard Speaker and The Standard Reader, which were used in Boston schools for many years. In 1858 he started a children's monthly periodical, Sargent's School Monthly, but by the end of the year it was absorbed by the magazine, Forrester's Playmate. He continued to publish poems, fiction and dramas prodigiously. Sargent became captivated with the notion of communicating with "the beyond". He hosted many séances, and philosophical discussions. He published Planchette, or the Despair of Science (1869), The Proof Palpable of Immortality (1875), and The Scientific Basis of Spiritualism (1880). His monumental book, Harper's Cyclopaedia of British and American Poets (1881), was not published until after his death. Sargent died in Boston from oral cancer on December 30, 1880. Publications Poetry *''The Light of the Lighthouse, and other poems. James Mowatt, 1844.The Light of the Lighthouse, and other poems, Google Books. Web, Nov. 7, 2013. *Songs of the Sea, with other poems. Boston: James Munroe, 1847. *The Woman Who Dared. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870. Plays *Velasco: A tragedy in five acts. New York: Harper, 1839. *''The Genoese (originally, The Bride of Genoa). New World, 1842.Epes Sargent, Houghton-Mifflin Chronology of U.S. Literature (Houghton Mifflin, 2004). Answers.com, Web, Nov. 7, 2013. *''The Lampoon''. Boston: J. Munroe, 1847. Novels *''What's To Be Done; or, The will and the way. New York: Harper, 1842. *Wealth and Worth; or, Which makes the man?'' New York: Harper, 1842. *''Fleetwood, or The stain of birth: A novel of American life, New York: Burgess, Stringer, 1845. *Peculiar: A tale of the great transition. New York: Carleton, 1864. Non-fiction *The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay. New York: Greeley & McElrath, 1844. **The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay: Brought down to 1848. New York: Greely & McElrath, 1848. **new edition: Edited and Completed at Mr. Clay's Death. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1852; Auburn, NY: Derby & Miller, 1852. *Arctic Adventure by Sea and Land: From the earliest date to the last expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin. Boston, Phillips, Sampson / London, Sampson Low, 1857. *American Adventure by Land and Sea. New York: Harper, 1859. *Planchette, or the Despair of science. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1869. *The Proof Palpable of Immortality. Boston: Colby, 1875. *The Scientific Basis of Spiritualism. Boston: Colby & Rich, 1880. Juvenile *''The Standard Fifth Reader (First-class standard reader): For public and private schools. Boston: John L. Shorey ; New York: W.I. Pooley, 1854; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1854; Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855. *''The Standard First Reader, for Beginners: Containing the alphabet, and primary lessons in pronouncing, spelling, and reading''. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855. *''The Standard Second Reader: Containing introductory exercises in articulation, an explanatory index, reading lessons, &c''. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855. *''The Standard Third Reader: For public and private schools''. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855. *''The Standard Fourth Reader For public and private schools''. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855. Edited *''The Modern Standard Drama: A collection of the most popular acting plays, with critical remarks''. New York: William Taylor / Baltimore, MD: Taylor, Wilde, 1846. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV, Volume V, Volume VI, Volume VII. *Thomas Hood, The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood. Boston: Phillips, 1854. * Thomas Campbell, Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1854. * Samuel Rogers, The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Rogers. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1854. *''The Testimony of the Poets. Boston: B.B. Mussey and A. Tompkins, 1854. *Thomas Hood, ''Humorous Poems of Thomas Hood. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1856. *''The Poetical Works of Horace Smith and James Smith. New York: Mason Brothers, 1857. *Thomas Hood, ''The Miscellaneous Poems of Thomas Hood. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1858. *Thomas Hood, The Works of Thomas Hood. New York: G.P. Putnam, 1862. *''The Sapphire: A collection of graphic and entertaining tales, brilliant poems and essays, gleaned chiefly from fugitive literature of the nineteenth century. Boston: J.L. Shorey / New York: W.I. Pooley / Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1867. *Thomas Hood, ''The Prose Works of Thomas Hood. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1870. *''Harper's Cyclopaedia of British and American Poets'' . New York: Harper, 1881. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Epes Sargent, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 7, 2013. See also *The Knickerbocker poets *List of U.S. poets *List of English-language playwrights References Fonds *A Guide to the Papers of Epes Sargent at University of Virginia Notes External links ;Poems *Sargent, Epes (2 poems) at Representative Poetry Online *Epes Sargent at PoemHunter (5 poems) *Epes Sargent at Wikisource ;Books * *Epes Sargent at Internet Archive *Epes Sargent at Amazon.com ;About *Epes Sargent at Early American Fiction *Epes Sargent in the Houghton Mifflin Chronology of U.S. Literature *Epes Sargent in the Gale Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Category:1813 births Category:American writers Category:American poets Category:American journalists Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:Boston Evening Transcript people Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Spiritualists Category:1880 deaths Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Knickerbocker Group